I'm always on the lookout for tools to help make me more efficient, so I was wondering what kinds of tools, other than IDEs/text editors (these have been covered in a few questions), that people use to make themselves more productive.
Here's a list of the tools I currently find useful:
- Launchy - application launcher, to make launching apps much faster
- VirtuaWin - Lightweight virtual desktop manager, to make it easier to manage the many windows/apps I have to use.
- Process Explorer - Task manager replacement, which besides regular Task Manager tasks I use as a simple resource usage measurement tool (can see the CPU, memory, and other stats for the apps I'm working on).
- TCPView - GUI for netstat, for debugging simple network issues. Also lets you close net connections, which can be helpful for testing network error handling in my apps.
- Wireshark - packet tracer, for debugging network issues
- cygwin - For a good commandline experience in windows. I find I can be a lot more efficient at some things by using the command line, and I find zsh much easier and more powerful to use than cmd. Also, using xTerms in rootless mode gives me command line windows that are easier to handle (resize just like any other window, unlike cmd windows).
- Synergy - software-based KVM. Lets me use a single keyboard and mouse for multiple devel boxes.